I Watched My Hometown Burn to the Ground From 500 Miles Away and There Was Nothing I Could Do

Northern California: It all started Saturday afternoon. A fire started and it rapidly spread to 40,000 acres by Sunday morning. What was a bunch of peaceful hamlets were now burned or burning and the rest were a place for evacuees. By Tuesday 13,000 people had been displaced, 585 homes had been destroyed, 100’s of other structures destroyed, and 70,000 acres burned. The numbers have only increased since then.

The ruins of my childhood friends home. Gone.

Happier times on a porch that burned down with the house.

My friends grew up in this house, they lived down the block from me, there’s no going back

On the first day I called my mother to see if she was okay and evacuating, as I had seen a post on Facebook, she waited till the last 30 minutes before the fire encroached to leave her property. She said as she was leaving the fire was building up around her as she drove down the road. We still don’t know if her home, a place I grew up in, is still standing. From Saturday night I’ve been hearing over and over, my friends and people I have known for most of my life have lost their homes, livelihood, (and I shudder to say it) pets and possibly people. The human death toll has been minimal though as the smoke clears who knows what we will discover. (since I wrote this the death toll has risen to three, my heart breaks.)

This is an image of my friends childhood home burning down. It’s a shock to see.

Living in Lake County lent itself to a freedom that you could only find in a tight knit community.

The brave men and women that have fought the flames to stop the fire and save our town are nothing short of Super Heroes.

I am so grateful for the advent of the internet because it has made me more connected with the struggles of my community. If this had happened even 10 years ago I would not have known as much as I know and there would be so many more question marks. With Facebook, smart phones, online news, and numerous other resources I have been connected to everyone and everything that is going on. I’m 500 miles away but I feel the shock and horror deep in my bones as I look at images of towns, houses, and forests I love dearly burn into oblivion. I almost feel guilty that I’m not huddled into a shelter with the thousands of displaced people. I am comfortably writing in my room with a light breeze wafting in but I feel the struggle of the people I love.

This is my mother standing in the shelter she’s currently staying in the High School Kelseyville.

This was the storefront in Harbin Hot Springs, a home to many and a place for many to come and unwind.

I can see the immediate tragedy of my towns plight dying down, there’s less news articles, people are back to posting adorable videos of hedgehogs getting baths and bombastic political posts. My town is starting to sink back into obscurity. Because of how fast the internet moves stories are much like the fire that destroyed my town, they flare up, burn bright, and disappear. The people in them have to keep living, picking up the ash and carrying on. It’s a lonely prospect. These multitudinous people that have lost everything will be left to deal with the rubble. These are my people. I love these people and I don’t want them to be like an internet flame. I want people to know Lake County, to care as much as I do. You never think such a great tragedy will every befall you until it does. And you are left with the prospect of rebuilding. I don’t know what I can do for my little town but as the rain falls on it as I write this and flushes the flames temporarily, I know I have to do something. This is my plea, don’t forget “The Valley Fire” and my little town Lake County. It’s a wonderful place with wonderful people and they deserve better.

Lake County in it’s pristine state before the fires swept through.

Please show some love for Lake County and donate to the Red Cross to support their efforts for my town and many others like it:

Author Deva Nitins grew up in Lake County where the fires are taking place and has been watching their progress from Los Angeles where she currently resides. The fire is still actively burning more land and has spread to other townships. It is a state of emergency and one of the worst fires in California’s history.